


Weightless

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: College, Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:55:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22656625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex feels overwhelmed with life, and talks to Jack about it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Weightless

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that I wrote last night as a way to deal with things, and everything that Alex deals with in this story is what I’m currently dealing with, and why I haven't posted as much. Also, it’s called Weightless because that’s the song I had on as I wrote this.

Alex sighed as he unlocked the door to his dorm and walked into the room. It was a Sunday night, and he’d just come back to campus after a weekend at home.   
Every Friday, he left campus to go home and work at the job he’d had since high school. He’d kept up with this routine since his freshman year of college, but lately it was starting to feel like too much to him. He didn’t really enjoy his job, but he wanted the paycheck, and the perks that he’d acquired from working at his job for just under four years were nice. They were flexible with his schedule, they paid him a decent amount per hour, and he’d built up a considerable amount of seniority at this point.   
While all of this was nice, the only redeeming factors of his job in his mind were his coworkers that had become his friends, and the fact that a not very well-liked shift supervisor had been out on leave of absence. Over the weekend, his closest friend had quit, and he learned that his supervisor would be coming back soon, both of these things added to the rut he could already feel himself getting into.   
He was pursuing a degree in psychology and was very excited for graduate school and for his future career, but none of that seemed to matter to him right now. After setting his backpack down by his desk, Alex grabbed his phone and climbed into his bed. While he did have quite a bit of homework to get done, he decided to push it off some. He was feeling so overwhelmed that the thought of sitting down and getting any amount of work done just seemed daunting and impossible.   
It was currently almost seven thirty, so Alex told himself that he’d stay on his phone for fifteen minutes, then he’d go to his desk and try to get some work done. His roommate, Jack. Would be coming back from his job a little after eight, and Alex knew that Jack would figure out that something was up with him if he was just laying in bed, doing absolutely nothing.   
Alex curled himself into a ball, then started to scroll through all of the different apps on his phone, paying absolutely no attention to how much time was passing by. He knew that more than fifteen minutes had gone by, but he didn’t really care. All of the things that he had to get done seemed meaningless, and he just couldn’t bring himself to get started on them yet. The next time that Alex looked at the clock, it was a little after eight, and he knew that he had to get up and sit at his desk and try to make himself do something, literally anything.   
As he got up, he heard Jack’s key go into the door, so he tried to make it look like he was doing something by his bed. Jack walked in, and Alex frantically started to go through the drawer of his nightstand, attempting to make it look like he was looking for something.  
“Alex? Are you in here?” Jack asked, seeing Alex’s bag by his desk from the doorway, but not Alex.  
“Oh, just by my bed, I’m here!” Alex exclaimed, upset that his voice had gone up some as he said that; he knew Jack would figure out that something was going on now. Jack walked into the room, and saw a forced smile on his roommate’s face, and instantly felt for him.   
He could tell that something had been up with Alex for the past week, but he never asked about it, not wanting to overstep. But, after seeing this, he decided that tonight was the night he’d mention it.  
“Are you alright, man?” Jack asked, putting down his bag and sitting at his desk.  
“Yeah, all good!” Alex exclaimed, another fake smile appearing on his face.  
“Alex, I’m not stupid. I know you well enough by now to know that that’s not true. I can tell that something’s bothering you, and I won’t make you tell me anything if you’re not comfortable with that, but I just want you to know that I’m here for you, and would be more than willing to try and help,” Jack said, sounding as sincere as he could. Alex sighed before speaking.  
“How much time do you have?” Alex asked sarcastically.  
“Um, why?” Jack asked in reply.  
“This may take a while to explain,” Alex stated bluntly.  
“That’s fine, it can take as long as you need. I’m here for you, man,” Jack replied.  
“That’s good to know. I honestly don’t really know where to start. A few weeks ago, my brain started to feel kind of dark and heavy, and I still can’t really figure out why, like, there really wasn’t any reason for it. Work was kind of shitty this weekend and I think that kind of pushed me over the edge with everything,” Alex explained, taking a seat at his desk so he could be closer to Jack.  
“What happened at work?” Jack continued.  
“Well, I’ve kind of been wanting to quit for about six months now. I’ve worked there for almost four years, I started in my sophomore year of high school. I really don’t like any of our managers, and I just feel like I’m going insane every time I go in for a shift. As of the last two months, I’ll go in and feel depressed for my entire shift, and it’s seriously such a shitty way to live. My closest friend there impulsively quit yesterday after having a bit of an argument with our worst manager. Hanging out with him there was really the only thing that made the job tolerable, and now that he’s gone, I want to officially quit. I feel like I have nothing keeping me there at this point,” Alex said back.  
“Oh wow, I’m sorry to hear about your friend, that sucks that he got so upset that quitting felt like the only option to him. I think that if your job is really making you that miserable, then quitting might just be the best option. You’re twenty years old, you shouldn’t be forcing yourself to do something that upsets you so much. Are you going to get a new job somewhere else?” Jack questioned.  
“I’d kind of like to work on campus, actually. I know that it won’t pay as well as my current job does, but I kind of don’t care about that, to be super honest. My parents do help me out financially quite a bit, so making a few less dollars an hour isn’t really a big problem for me. I am a bit nervous for the change, though. My current job is super easy, and I’m a bit scared to leave the comfort of that. But I want to do something new. And I want to have some new challenges that I don’t have at my current job. I’m just nervous to actually quit, and it all just feels a bit overwhelming right now, since it’s all just swimming around in my head and everything,” Alex explained.  
“That makes perfect sense, you’re going out of your comfort zone some, and that’s always a super daunting thing to do. I’m sure that if I were in your position, I’d feel the same way. But I think that an on-campus job would be good for you. I mean, you like being here, and it would probably help you to make some new friends, which is always a good thing to do. Also, you’ll have something new to add to your resume, which will be helpful when you’re applying to graduate school, or even when you’re trying to get a job that could turn into your actual career. Definitely reach out to whoever you need to talk to in order to get a campus job, I think that’ll be really good for you. Is work the only thing that’s making you so stressed?” Jack asked back.  
“Well, no, I’m also a bit stressed with school, too,” Alex confessed.  
“You’re stressed about school? You’re a great student, what’s giving you such a hard time?” Jack asked, genuinely curious, since Alex’s academic performance was usually great.  
“Well, I’m in two classes that have to do with my major that I absolutely love, and I’m in an English class that I have a love hate relationship with, since it’s discussion based. But, I’m also in a foreign language and a math class, and I honestly just don’t care about either of those two classes. I kind of like my French professor, but I don’t care for the actual class itself. For math, I don’t like the professor, and the way she teaches is so boring. I usually get A’s and B’s on my exams, but I got C’s on both of my first exams for those two classes. I didn’t study enough for either of them, because my mind just hasn’t been able to focus on schoolwork lately. Like, everything just feels overwhelming, and I wish I could take a break from life. Not in a dark way, but I wish I could just do nothing for a week and just reset my head, but I know that’s not possible. I don’t want to miss class, but I also don’t want to go. I really don’t know how to explain it, a lot of it probably just sounds stupid, but I can’t get my mind out of this rut for some reason,” Alex explained, sounding as stressed as he felt.   
“I’m sorry you’ve been so down lately, dude, I honestly had no idea you’ve been feeling like this. I know you’re not going to miss a day of class since that’ll stress you out more, but maybe the rest of the day after you’re out of class could be more peaceful. Definitely don’t just not do your homework, but if you need an hour to unwind each day before starting on your assignments, then do that. I’m sorry that your exams didn’t go so well, but it sounds like you stressed yourself out by thinking about them, and just chose to not study to avoid thinking about them further. I’ve definitely done the same thing before and it sucks. I think you should just take everything one day at a time and look at your homework as one class at a time. That’s a lot easier said than done but thinking about it like that might really help you out some since you’ve been so overwhelmed lately. And, if you feel so stressed that you don’t want to do anything, start out by making yourself do something small, then go from there. I’ve done that before, and it does really help,” Jack explained.   
“Those are all really good points, thanks for the advice, Jack, I really do appreciate it. I hate to ramble and be such a burden like this,” Alex said in a small voice.  
“You’re not being a burden at all, Alex. You’re one of my best friends, and if there’s ever something I can do or say to help you deal with things better, I’ll always be more than willing to do what I can to help you out some. College is hard, life is hard, but I’ll always try to help make it all easier for you to deal with,” Jack said in a sincere voice.  
“I can’t thank you enough, Jack. Everything you’ve said has actually really helped me. I don’t feel as trapped in my head as I did, talking about all of this really did help. It’s nice to finally feel like I’m not insane for thinking about all of this in the ways that I am. You’re a really good friend, man,” Alex said, making them both smile.  
“I try to be! Now, I have to work on some homework, maybe you can try to get something done, too,” Jack suggested, grabbing a notebook from his backpack.  
“I do have to read part of a book for my English class, I guess I can get started on that,” Alex said, grabbing the book from his backpack.  
“Good idea! Good luck with that, and just remember that I’m here for you, man,” Jack stated.  
“Thanks, the same goes for you,” Alex replied. He started to read his book, finally feeling a sense of clarity for the first time in almost three weeks.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this story is totally autobiographical about myself currently. As the story implies, I've been a bit stressed lately, which is why I haven't posted as often. I'm absolutely not going to stop writing, it still brings me so much joy and happiness, but I've decided that I won't be posting daily anymore. I don't want to force a story and have it not be that great, so posting daily will no longer be a thing. I plan on posting more often than not, but the pressure of posting daily takes the joy out of writing. That said, I still have two requests, and I plan on writing one tonight for sure, and plan on getting both up this week! Please still send in requests, writing them for you guys makes me so incredibly happy, and I'm finally getting the motivation to write again, so please do continue to send them in! Sorry for the rambly note, I just wanted to update you guys some, and I hope everything made sense. I love you guys so much, thanks for the happiness you bring me. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
